This invention relates to means of directing ambient air Through a heat exchanger associated with the drive train of an off-road vehicle.
Certain off-road vehicles, such as large excavators and loaders, locate the engine compartment rearwardly of the operator's station. Mounted rearward most in the engine compartment is a heat exchanger or radiator associated with the vehicle's engine. Mounted also within the engine compartment is a blower fan. The blower fan draws ambient air through openings in the engine compartment and propells the captured air through the radiator to exit through the engine compartment grille. The resultant air flow through the radiator permits heat transfer from the radiator to the traversing air. Because the ambient air entering the engine compartment must first traverse across the vehicle's engine, the air is preheated thereby reducing its heat transfer efficiency by approximately twenty to thirty percent (20-30%) from the ambient condition. Further, the air entering the engine compartment may carry airborne particulants or trash which can form radiator clogs, further reducing the radiator heat transfer efficiency.